Kijiji report ‘connects the disconnected’ in buying journey

Kijiji for Business announced the launch of a comprehensive Autos Research Report detailing three missed connections between car buyers and dealers – built on Canadian-specific data – that outlines the opportunities available to connect the disconnected in the auto buying journey.

The three missed connections when purchasing a vehicle in Canada – according to the Kijiji Autos Research Report – and some top-line, key findings, include:

1.Social media as a factor in choosing which dealership to visit may not be as influential to consumers as dealers believe.
Canadian car shoppers of all ages identified social media as the eighth out of 10th online resource used during the research phase of the car buying process, proving social media has little influence in a car shoppers’ decision to visit one dealership over another; dealership sites were ranked number one and online classified sites were ranked number two

However, dealers on average believe social advertising has the same return on investment as their own website (15 per cent) and 90 per cent think social media will have a positive impact on their business over the next two to three years

2. Consumers’ basic expectation of trust and transparency in vehicle advertising is not being sufficiently met by dealers.
Data show 82 per cent of dealers strongly agreeing that dealerships need to be fully transparent to gain customer trust. Yet half 50 per cent of dealers today are listing “total price” and “fuel efficiency” in their vehicle ads, when car shoppers rank them amongst the most important details before visiting a dealership.

3. Older generations may not have the negative impact on business that dealers anticipate – the opposite may actually be true.
Kijiji said 47 per cent of dealers surveyed believed the aging population would have a negative impact on their business in the next two to three years.

However, older Canadians display many signals throughout the car shopping journey that may prove to be a very positive influence on dealer success, such as purchasing for want versus need; when asked what led to a new vehicle for purchase/lease, 38 per cent of car shoppers 55 years old and above just wanted a new model, whereas one in five millennials said a “life change created a new need.”

The report compares and contrasts the opinions of Canadian car seekers and sellers, highlighting how they can better connect at each phase of purchasing a car by examining the mindset of consumers and dealers at each stage.

Kijiji said the actionable takeaways for dealers to implement include:

The report, commissioned by Kijiji and conducted by BrandSpark International, was driven from two research studies – a Consumer Insights Study and the second annual Kijiji Dealer Pulse Study.

These two research studies were built in conjunction with each other; Kijiji crowdsourced Canadian dealers, identifying the questions they they most wanted to ask Canadians about their car shopping journey and, in turn, used those insights as the base for the direction for the Consumer Insight Study, ultimately creating the Kijiji Autos Research Report.

“Kijiji commissioned these studies and developed the Autos Research Report because we recognized there was an opportunity to build and strengthen greater trust and transparency between dealers and autos consumers,” said Leanne Kripp, head of autos at Kijiji.

“Our core proposition at Kijiji is all about enabling connections, and we felt it was crucially important to be a leader in connecting the disconnected and arm dealers with objective Canadian data, based on information they identified they needed most in order to better connect with their audience.”

Kripp said the report provides dealers with insights to maximize their marketing investments and improve their bottom lines.

More details on connecting the disconnected for Canadians on their path to purchase a car can be found in the full Kijiji Autos Research Report HERE.